In a must-win series heading into the All-Star Game break, the Pirates took two games on July 11. Meanwhile, just a little bit to the east, the Boston Red Sox continue to scorch as the club looks to take a playoff spot.
Pirates sweep doubleheader
The Pirates took both games of their doubleheader against the Brewers.
Pittsburgh picked up a comeback 7-6 victory over the Brewers in Game 1. Braxton Ashcraft didn’t pitch particularly well. But the savior was Esmerlyn Valdez, who had two home runs. His second, which came off Aaron Ashby in the eighth, put the Pirates up for good. Valdez had six RBI in that opening game.
Bryan Reynolds‘ RBI single in the sixth gave the Pirates a 3-2 lead. That score would not change for the rest of the game.
Boston wins eighth straight
Eduardo Rivera and the Red Sox shut out the Mets 4-0 to give Boston their eighth straight win.
All of the damage came from home runs. Andruw Monasterio hit a two-run home run off his old Brewers teammate Freddy Peralta in the fifth inning. Masataka Yoshida hit a two-run shot off Tobias Myers in the eighth.
The Red Sox are now .5 games out of a playoff spot.
Cleveland wins #50
Tanner Bibee navigated four walks and only allowed one earned run in a 4-1 victory for the Guardians over the Marlins.
Steven Kwan drove in two via a two-run double in the fourth, with one of those being the game-winning run. Gabriel Arias had three hits for the Guardians. Colin Holderman notched his first save of the season.
Liam Hicks had two hits for the Marlins.
Astros down Rangers
Peter Lambert was excellent yet again, as the righty struck out seven over six innings en route to his eighth win. The Astros defeated the Rangers 9-3.
Rangers starter Kumar Rocker conceded three home runs. Christian Vazquez and LaMonte Wade Jr. each got him. Wade Jr. hit a grand slam in the third. Yordan Alvarez hit his 31st home run in the first.
Ezequiel Duran and Evan Carter each had two hits for the Rangers.
Sanchez wins 11th
After a rough outing in Kansas City earlier this week, Cristopher Sanchez allowed 10 hits over seven innings against the Tigers. But Sanchez got through it, as he struck out seven and allowed two runs over seven innings for the Phillies. Philadelphia won 4-2.
Derek Hill continued to torment his old team as he picked up a hit and an RBI on the 11th. Bryce Harper and Bryson Stott each had two hits.
Matt Vierling and Hao-Yu Lee, both former farmhands for the Phillies, both had multi-hit contests for the Tigers. Vierling had three, while Lee picked up two.
Everything else
- Twins def. Angels 5-3
- White Sox def. Athletics 1-0
- Giants def. Rockies 4-2
- Yankees def. Nationals 4-2
- Rays def. Mariners 6-1
- Orioles def. Royals 6-1
- Cubs def. Reds 5-3
- Cardinals def. Braves 4-1
- Padres def. Blue Jays 8-7
- Diamondbacks def. Dodgers 9-2
July 11 was also Day 1 of the 2026 MLB Draft. Check out our Day 1 review, plus our other MLB coverage.